The Hickory Crawdads will face longtime rival Kannapolis at L.P. Frans Stadium for the first time since 2019 to start a two-week home series.
The two teams hit the quarter-pole mark of the season last Sunday with an imbalance of the schedule. Kannapolis has played the fewest road games in the Carolina League — 12 out of 33 — while Hickory has the second most at 20. That disparity starts to even out as Kannapolis goes away from home for two weeks during the same time as the Crawdads homestand.
The Crawdads opened the season at Kannapolis and won two of three from the Cannon Ballers.
Here is a snapshot look at the teams and the schedule for the series. All games can be heard or viewed on . Games streamed on MiLBTV have a subscription fee.
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Hickory Crawdads schedule this week
Wednesday, May 14, 6 p.m. — Women and Girls in Sports Night, Kids Win Wednesday
- Thursday, May 15, 11 a.m. — Education Day, Senior Day
- Friday, May 16, 7 p.m. — Fireworks, Armed Forces Weekend
- Saturday, May 17, 7 p.m. — 2015 Replica Championship Ring Giveaway, Friends Night and Auction Jersey
- Sunday, May 18, 2 p.m. — Mother’s Day Celebration, Church Bulletin Sunday, Donation Day with Lenoir Housing Authority
About the Crawdads (Texas Rangers affiliate)
Manager: Carlos Maldonado
Team Prospects (MLB.com): OF Yeremi Cabrera (No. 16), RHP Caden Scarborough (No. 27)
The Crawdads were rained out at Augusta to conclude a road trip that went 4-7, though they did win the series (3-2) against the GreenJackets. Hickory hopes the home cooking will spark the offense, as it had the fewest hits and runs in the Carolina League over the least two weeks.
Generating runs has been an issue this season for Hickory. With 12 homers as a team — tied for the fewest in the Carolina — the Crawdads rely on moving runners along and turning the lineup over. Thus far, it’s a group that hits a lot of singles and walks and then hope to get a miscue. With runners in scoring position this year, Hickory has just 14 extra-base hits in 32 games, tied for the fewest in the league. Overall, Hickory is hitting .218 with a slugging percentage (.312) that is lower than their on-base percentage. (.323).
Maxton Martin is the most likely to hit the gaps, as his nine doubles are tied for the Carolina League lead. Pablo Guerrero had the hottest bat at the plate, going 8-for-19 at Augusta with two homers
The pitching staff does keep the team in games. On the mound, Hickory still leads the league in fewest hits allowed, opponents’ batting avg. (.206) and WHIP (1.27).
About the Cannon Ballers (Chicago White Sox affiliate)
Manager: Chad Pinder
Team Prospects (MLB.com): RF George Wolkow (No. 10), 3B/ SS Caleb Bonemer (No. 11)
Kannapolis hits the road after a 7-5 homestand. Four of those losses came against the Carolina Mudcats, the team with best record in the Carolina League (22-10).
Overall, the Cannon Ballers tend to play high scoring games in comparison to the rest of the league. They are third in runs scored and fourth overall in runs allowed with the second highest ERA.
Kannapolis will be without infielder Javier Mogollon for at least part of the week, as he was injured in a game last Thursday. Mogollon is fourth in the Carolina League in OPS (.967) and slugging pct. (.527).
Bonemer, the White Sox second-round pick last summer, has adjusted to pro ball so far. He is just out of the top-10 in the Carolina League in hits and sixth in runs scored. Other names of note for Kannapolis are Hale Sims, who pitched collegiately at Charlotte, and bench coach Darius Day, who played 16 games for Hickory in 2016.
